American actor Matthew Modine’s Twitter bio says much of what one needs to know about his line of thinking: “We are constrained by nothing more than ignorance. Question everything,” it reads — his thirst for a continued grasp of life evidenced by the choices in his One Grand list below. Modine, who has been nominated for two Golden Globes (for his work in And the Band Played On and What the Deaf Man Heard,) currently appears as Dr. Brenner — tormenter and ‘papa’ to Eleven in Netflix’s Stranger Things, streaming now.

Below are Matthew Modine’s favorite books, available to purchase individually or as a set.

Kurt Vonnegut

This is collection of Vonnegut observations that will make you mourn his passing. We need a new Vonnegut today to make sense of the utter nonsense we’re living through. A writer with his obstinance, humanism, wit and wisdom.

Jean Giorno

The story highlights how the positive actions of a single individual can transform the world we share. In this case, it’s the story about a Elzeard Bouffier, a humble shepherd who reforests a landscape destroyed by war. Try and find the version with the beautiful wood engravings by Michael McCurdy.

Terence McKenna

For many years I was curious about human consciousness. How did we become conscious of our consciousness? McKenna argues, quite convincingly, that it may have been because of our hunter gatherer ancestors consumption of psychotropic plants and herbs. Fun fact: the book was recommended to me by Whoopi Goldberg.

William Wharton

Okay, yeah, I did play Birdy in the film directed by the always amazing Sir Alan Parker. If you saw the movie, you should read the book. The hypnotic magic of Wharton’s prose is pure poetry. After you read the book, watch, or re-watch the film and see how right we actually got it.

Don DeLillo

Alright, I said before that I missed Vonnegut. Well, Don DeLillo isn’t Vonnegut. And he’s not trying to be. He’s like Vonnegut and is an equal wordsmith. DeLillo is also a brilliant observer of life with a deliciously wicked sense of humor. He understands how best to employ irony and uses it to point out our collective anxieties and the absurdities of contemporary living. DeLillo is the shit.

Marcus Aurelius

Observations about life from a Roman emperor from almost 2,000 years ago. Remarkably fresh, simple, and pertinent. Filled with rational emotion and practical aphorisms. When I read this the first time, I felt like I was receiving loving guidance from a dear friend. The writing is that simple and relatable. Seriously, Marcus was an emperor, and you never feel like he’s talking down to the reader!

Ernest Hemingway

How can you not love the old fisherman, Santiago, and this great sea story by ol’ man Hemingway. Ernest won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes for his efforts with this book. In many ways, the story echoes Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. But Hemingway takes the reader much deeper into the personal journey of man vs. nature. Through Santiago we are reminded of humility and the fragility of life. So vulnerable we are in our little boats floating in a universe unimaginably large and benign to the desires or passions of human ambitions.

Yuval Noah Harari

Here we are. Top of the heap. 8 billion people crawling on every piece of earth available. Early humans learned that through cooperation they could, say, travel off our planet and walk on the moon. The question now is, can we survive another millennia? With all of our technology, science, medicine, an ever exploding population, and an unending appetite for a finite amount of earthly resources, will we survive much longer?

Dr. Seuss

Leave it to the Dr. to make simple sense of human stupidity. Like Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece Dr. Strangelove, the story is about the real possibility of mutually assured destruction from the use of nuclear weapons.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

When I was a boy I dreamed of sailing and exploring the the open seas. I know my inspiration arose from watching episodes of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. This almanac was the first gift I received from my then girlfriend, now wife, and why I still love her. She saw my passion for the ocean and presented me with a book by my hero. Cousteau gives many examples of how we have been destroying our shared environment for thousands of years. But more importantly, he always leads us to solutions we can implement to save and restore our planet. “We have one planet. We have to take care of it.”

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Grand lists is a curated arts site specializing in books and movies selected by 100 public figures and celebrities, ranging from designers, musicians, artists, actors, performers and directors, to politicians, novelists, scientists and athletes.